The legend of fearless freshman Jordan Kron continued to grow in East Union High’s sorely-needed 67-64 victory at Sierra Friday.
East Union (1-2 Valley Oak League, 6-7 overall) hit seven of its 14 3-pointers in the second quarter to take a 38-26 halftime lead, but the last of those treys made by Kron was the biggest.
Sierra (2-1, 9-5), which trailed by as much as 15 in the third quarter, opened the fourth with a 12-3 run and took its first lead , 61-60, since midway through the first quarter when Allan Sampayan (eight points, six assists) buried two free throws with 1:28 remaining.
With momentum on Sierra’s side, Kron took what would otherwise be an ill-advised 3-pointer deep from the right wing seven seconds later and hit all net. He later converted four straight free throws to help seal it and finish with a game-high 25 points to go with six assists.
“I was just thinking that we needed to get back into the game, but I basically reacted,” Kron said. “I came down, got the view of the court and let it fly.
“I practice those shots a lot and I’m glad it went in. Sometimes you just have to do the crazy things to get the team motivated.”
Sierra sharpshooter Trevor Nogueira, who was held to just two points in the first half but sank four 3’s in the second to end up with 14, had two chances to tie it.
The Timberwolves called timeout after Kron capped the final score with 19.2 seconds remaining, and Nogueira was off the mark on his first attempt, a step-back 3-pointer from the top of the arc.
Nogueira rebounded his own miss but didn’t get full control of it until chasing it down near midcourt, and his desperation shot to tie it caromed harmlessly off the backboard.
“We had a play there at the end and two guys didn’t know what they were doing,” Sierra coach Scott Thomason said. “When you don’t execute you get what you deserve. It’s my fault. I’ll take the blame for this one.”
Tyler Bylow (15 points) and Kron led East Union’s long-range display with five 3-pointers each. Teejay Gordon hit two 3’s and finished with 10 points, while Ricky Inderbitzin added nine points, seven rebounds and four steals.
“When you get wide-open shots, who can’t shoot?” Thomason said. “That’s our fault. We knew they had shooters, and when Bylow and the other guys get in rhythm they’re tough to beat. We talked about containing (ball handlers) and challenging (shots) and we did a poor job of that tonight.”
Sierra countered East Union’s perimeter shooting by dominating closer to the hoop. Sophomore forward Will Ward grinded out 20 points and seven rebounds to lead Sierra, and 6-foot-5 Jerrod Patton contributed 15 and nine. Sierra held a 35-18 edge in rebounding.
While Sierra had its way in some stretches inside, first-year East Union coach Brett Lewis credits his players’ improved play on defense after taking 75-64 and 81-67 losses to VOL contenders Ceres and Sonora, respectively, to start conference action.
“Ceres and Sonora beat us by overpowering us inside, and we didn’t play very good defense in the first half of those games,” Lewis said. “So on practice (Thursday) all we worked on was defense. We set a goal to hold teams to under 13 points per quarter, and we got after it in the first quarter tonight and held them to 10.”
East Union (1-2 Valley Oak League, 6-7 overall) hit seven of its 14 3-pointers in the second quarter to take a 38-26 halftime lead, but the last of those treys made by Kron was the biggest.
Sierra (2-1, 9-5), which trailed by as much as 15 in the third quarter, opened the fourth with a 12-3 run and took its first lead , 61-60, since midway through the first quarter when Allan Sampayan (eight points, six assists) buried two free throws with 1:28 remaining.
With momentum on Sierra’s side, Kron took what would otherwise be an ill-advised 3-pointer deep from the right wing seven seconds later and hit all net. He later converted four straight free throws to help seal it and finish with a game-high 25 points to go with six assists.
“I was just thinking that we needed to get back into the game, but I basically reacted,” Kron said. “I came down, got the view of the court and let it fly.
“I practice those shots a lot and I’m glad it went in. Sometimes you just have to do the crazy things to get the team motivated.”
Sierra sharpshooter Trevor Nogueira, who was held to just two points in the first half but sank four 3’s in the second to end up with 14, had two chances to tie it.
The Timberwolves called timeout after Kron capped the final score with 19.2 seconds remaining, and Nogueira was off the mark on his first attempt, a step-back 3-pointer from the top of the arc.
Nogueira rebounded his own miss but didn’t get full control of it until chasing it down near midcourt, and his desperation shot to tie it caromed harmlessly off the backboard.
“We had a play there at the end and two guys didn’t know what they were doing,” Sierra coach Scott Thomason said. “When you don’t execute you get what you deserve. It’s my fault. I’ll take the blame for this one.”
Tyler Bylow (15 points) and Kron led East Union’s long-range display with five 3-pointers each. Teejay Gordon hit two 3’s and finished with 10 points, while Ricky Inderbitzin added nine points, seven rebounds and four steals.
“When you get wide-open shots, who can’t shoot?” Thomason said. “That’s our fault. We knew they had shooters, and when Bylow and the other guys get in rhythm they’re tough to beat. We talked about containing (ball handlers) and challenging (shots) and we did a poor job of that tonight.”
Sierra countered East Union’s perimeter shooting by dominating closer to the hoop. Sophomore forward Will Ward grinded out 20 points and seven rebounds to lead Sierra, and 6-foot-5 Jerrod Patton contributed 15 and nine. Sierra held a 35-18 edge in rebounding.
While Sierra had its way in some stretches inside, first-year East Union coach Brett Lewis credits his players’ improved play on defense after taking 75-64 and 81-67 losses to VOL contenders Ceres and Sonora, respectively, to start conference action.
“Ceres and Sonora beat us by overpowering us inside, and we didn’t play very good defense in the first half of those games,” Lewis said. “So on practice (Thursday) all we worked on was defense. We set a goal to hold teams to under 13 points per quarter, and we got after it in the first quarter tonight and held them to 10.”
